What to put in this tank

[TheTenthDoctor]

Well yesterday I went to the store to buy some guppies for an upcoming breeding project. It was then I realized that I hadn’t kept any species except live bearers in over a year. So I thought “why limit myself to live bearers? Why not try another species?”
So I need ideas. First I’ll eliminate any fish that are too large then eliminate any fish that are the wrong water type.

tank size: 29 us gallons
Plants: ancharia guppy grass

I’m thinking some type of gourami or maybe a tetra. Perhaps I’ll try an angelfish or maybe a hatchet fish

 

[Barry Tetra]

Angelfish a no no, they are extremely aggressive, unpredictable and need more space than that.

I would suggest a Black skirt and gourami.

 

[corylover5]

What is you water hardness? (PH, GH, KH?)
Livebearers require hard water while fish like tetras require soft water.

 

[TheTenthDoctor]

What is you water hardness? (PH, GH, KH?)
Livebearers require hard water while fish like tetras require soft water.

I wanna have a list of species before I eliminate them bases on water quality. Btw I don’t actually know because there isn’t anything in the tank at the moment. Just plants

 

[CassCats]

Check your local water provider.
Itd be easier to give you a list of fish suitable for you to choose from if you know your GH

 

[itiwhetu]

White cloud mountain minnows would look great and breed in there.

 

[Gypsy Tart]

Check your local water provider.
Itd be easier to give you a list of fish suitable for you to choose from if you know your GH

What is GH ?

 

[CassCats]

What is GH ?

General Hardness, usually measured in ppm or DH or DGH

Basically the mineral content of the water. Some fish evolved in waters with high content (hard water) and some evolved with little to none (soft water).

And hard/soft means different things to fishkeepers than it does to water companies too, so you need to know numbers.

 

[Gypsy Tart]

General Hardness, usually measured in ppm or DH or DGH

Basically the mineral content of the water. Some fish evolved in waters with high content (hard water) and some evolved with little to none (soft water).

And hard/soft means different things to fishkeepers than it does to water companies too, so you need to know numbers.

Thanks. Does that mean that everyone who keeps fish in an aquarium has to know the analysis (including quality) of the tap water ?

 

[CassCats]

Thanks. Does that mean that everyone who keeps fish in an aquarium has to know the analysis (including quality) of the tap water ?

Ideally yes.
If your water is too soft, and you got say livebearers or rift lake cichlids or rainbowfish, they can severely suffer.
And if you have hard water but keep soft water fish, the excess minerals potentially can build up in their organs.

Both scenarios affect the fishs lifespans and immune system.

Another thing is some source water, things change during the seasons in some places and the water can change, which can negatively affect your aquarium, so its good to stay on top of these things and look into them should things go wrong.

 

[TheTenthDoctor]

What do you guys think about dwarf corys. Or perhaps a pearl gourami. Maybe I could do a school of phantom tetras

 

[Barry Tetra]

What do you guys think about dwarf corys. Or perhaps a pearl gourami. Maybe I could do a school of phantom tetras

Go with phantom tetras, I don’t like gouramis anyway

 

[Ch4rlie]

What do you guys think about dwarf corys. Or perhaps a pearl gourami. Maybe I could do a school of phantom tetras

Again, one needs to know what your water hardness is before we can readily say yes go for it or nay.

Your house water supplier website will have a section dedicated for water quality and hardness, you could take a screen grab of that and show it on here and we can help you out to determine what hardness your water supply is, then you can specifically look for certain species of livestock.

Tetras are normally soft water fish and your guppies are hard water fish just to give you examples.

And if you put your guppies into soft water they won’t be happy and their lifespans will be shortened or their immune systems may be compromised due to stress and the same for soft water fish into hard water.

Gourami have a wide area of gH tolerances so they probably be ok.
But some gouramis can be aggressive, especially if kept in wron numbers or wrong male to female ratios.

Research and doing your homework pays dividends in the long run.

 

[TheTenthDoctor]

Again, one needs to know what your water hardness is before we can readily say yes go for it or nay.

Your house water supplier website will have a section dedicated for water quality and hardness, you could take a screen grab of that and show it on here and we can help you out to determine what hardness your water supply is, then you can specifically look for certain species of livestock.

Tetras are normally soft water fish and your guppies are hard water fish just to give you examples.

And if you put your guppies into soft water they won’t be happy and their lifespans will be shortened or their immune systems may be compromised due to stress and the same for soft water fish into hard water.

Gourami have a wide area of gH tolerances so they probably be ok.
But some gouramis can be aggressive, especially if kept in wron numbers or wrong male to female ratios.

Research and doing your homework pays dividends in the long run.

Ahhhhhhhhhbbbbbbbsnjdjdjdjdk no! I want to figure out what species I like before I eliminate them if the water doesn’t match. @PheonixKingZ @Deanasue

 

[Ch4rlie]

Ok, that’s would be just like asking how long is a piece of string since there are lots of fish species out there that are being sold at LFS and online.

Just easier and quicker for to list fish that are already suitable for you rather than wasting time looking for fish species for you. Then you find some that you really, really would like to have but only then to realise you cannot have them due to your water hardness so that, for us, is neither here nor there but that’s up to you.